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| Cordell Pickering |
Pickering chose Pick PT as the name for several reasons, not just because of his last name, but because he wants patients to pick PT before narcotics, especially for back injury. “The motto of our company is ‘Live Life Moving.' The evidence for treating people with back pain is movement,” he said.
He chose Rexburg to open his practice because of his training in spine therapy. There was a physician's office that was interested in working with him to rehab their spine patents, so Rexburg was a good fit. Cordell also is trained in vestibular therapy, working with local ENT's on patients with inner ear problems.
His physical therapy practice has expanded to Idaho Falls and is performed out of his second business, Apex Fitness and Performance. “Here it's different, there are two evaluation rooms and a huge gym,” he said. “A big issue in the PT world is that patients don't get stressed enough. A lot of issues are an endurance issue in their spine. It's definitely a different type of gym, but I've really enjoyed it.” His plans are to spend more time in Idaho Falls treating patients than he has in the past and growing his practice in both cities.
Pickering comes from a family that has had several different businesses. He has always known that owning a business would be a part of his life. “A lot of physical therapists aren't interested in doing to the business side of things. For me, it really comes down to how I grew up. I grew up in an environment of being with a business family. Talking about business on Sunday is not an uncommon thing,” he said.
He has had his own experience with back pain and in treating his family for their back pain, related to the type of the blue-collar work they have all done. He feels that makes him more relatable to his patients.
The gym focuses on performance and helping athletes achieve their peak performance. During the coronavirus pandemic, Pickering has started a Facebook group called Stand Up to COVID-19 Support East Idaho Local Business. “The reason that I started this group is that when COVID started I noticed that there were a lot of business owners who were confused and stressed out and they didn't know what to do. When I started the group it grew pretty quick. I created the group to try to bring good information and provide a platform for business owners to advertise and community members to support them,” he said.
The future of the group is to keep it open and active as a way to support East Idaho business. “The thing that is going to make the group the most effective is the number of members. I'm hoping to increase the group and keep it going after COVID-19,” he said. All businesses are allowed to post on the group up to twice per week.
Having opened his businesses during a very difficult time, Pickering has had to rely on his optimism. “I try not to get discouraged," he said. "I think every business owner probably had a little stress headache the first couple of weeks when everything was getting shut down. For me, I take it as there is nothing I can do about the situation and I can't change any laws. All I can do is be optimistic and helpful.” He feels this will be the key to his success in the future -- to be helpful to the community.
Information
For more information on Pick PT, visit the website at https://www.pickpt.com/. To learn more about Apex Fitness and Performance visit https://www.apexfitnessandperformance.com/.Please join the Stand Up to COVID-19 – Support East Idaho Business Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/502652830641635/.